Saper Fare, the 2020 workshops programme
Saper Fare
Workshops at Manifattura Tabacchi
The community of makers at B9 are opening up the art of making to the city with appointments at their ateliers, where they will share their knowledge, have fun, and broaden the horizons for all who participate.
programme
Also in 2020 Manifattura Tabacchi presents workshops that have been created by the makers and innovators that inhabit its spaces: featuring courses in fashion, design, brewing, cooking, and environmental sustainability, designed for adults and children alike.
The earth between your hands
Pottery Lessons
Working the clay with your hands, touching the earth, feeling the heat and the texture, it is a sensorial and meditative experience that takes us back to our ancestors, it puts us in touch with our inner selves and immerses us in the moment.
Modelling something out of an amorphous mass of clay, replicating movements that have been repeated over millennia, since the time of our earliest ancestors, tying us to our deepest roots, with our primitive side, using the material that has always hosted us, our planet, and it’s not by chance that we give them the same name; earth!
Working with earth is all of this… and more.
During the lessons the participants will learn about this material and the techniques involved in modelling it by hand (pizzico, coil, coil in strips, slab) and shaping and turning it on the lathe, also looking at different techniques for glazing and decoration (impression, engraving, carving, tunnelling, how to use engobes). At the end of the lesson, participants will be able to take their newly made objects away to decorate their own homes.
The course is suited for both beginners and those who already have some experience. You can work on your own project or follow the instructor’s suggestions.
Individual lessons are also available on appointment.
The course is in Italian and/or English.
Sunday 17.00 – 19.00
Monday 13.30 – 15.30 or 19.00 – 21.00
Tuesday 16.00 – 18.00 or 19.00 – 21.00
For info, costs and reservations: babaceramicsstudio@gmail.com
Malts and matches
Beer tasting session with chocolate and sigars
Tasting sessions care of Antonio Massa from Birrificio Valdarno Superiore, with local small-scale producers of Tuscan gastronomic specialities.
For details, cost and reservation:
- Thursday 9 January – Beer and chocolate tasting session (21:00 – 23:00)
- Thursday 6 February – Beer and cigar tasting session (21:00 – 23:00)
talk on tap
Beer tasting session
Birrificio Valdarno Superiore will be running weekly tasting sessions where you’ll not only get to try great beers but you’ll also discover the culture of brewing, together with the brewery’s own master brewer, Antonio Massa.
For details, cost and reservation:
- Thursday 16 January – Birrificio BEBA, Piemonte
- Thursday 23 January – Birrificio del Forte, Tuscany
- Thursday 30 January – Birrificio La Fucina, Molise
- Thursday 13 February – Birrificio Karma, Campania
- Thursday 20 February – Birrificio San Gabriel, Veneto
- Thursday 27 February – Birrificio L’Olmaia, Tuscany
regeneration yoga
Ashtanga Yoga course
The lessons are suitable for everyone, including beginners, and can be alternated with functional free-body training classes.
Every Tuesday and Thursday 13:15 – 14:15
One lessons costs 5€ and lasts 1 hour in the FESTA area of B9 (entrance at Via delle Cascine 33).
The healthy kitchen
Macro-Mediterranean cookery course
Chef Giacomo Faberi accompanies the participants on a journey through Macro-Mediterranean cuisine, macrobiotic cookery that combines produce from all over the Mediterranean world. The basis of this cuisine is a deep respect for the raw materials at every stage of their life cycle, the attention to seasonality, and the use of organic local produce. All this is accompanied by a basic teaching: respect for your body, your soul, and our precious land.
The participants will prepare and consume a complete menu for a macrobiotic dinner, from starter to dessert.
For details, cost and reservation:
- Tuesday 14 January (19:30 – 22:30)
The fermenting kitchen
Preparing fermented vegetables
Alongside chef Giacomo Faberi, participants will discover how to prepare vegetables after two different types of fermentation: natural and pickling.
For the preparation of fermented products, first you need to get in tune with nature, to understand how the natural life cycle transforms foods into something new and special. Fermentation is an ancient process, used in order to conserve food, which derives from the natural production of biological preservatives. Fermented foods are rich in omega-3 and anti-oxidants, all beneficial for the health of your digestive system. At the end of the experience, participants are free to take their prepared foods away with them.
For details, cost and reservation:
- Tuesday 21 January (19:30 – 21:30)
Reclaimed Grains
Baking with sourdough yeast and ancient grains
Working with chef Giacomo Faberi, the participants will be able to try their hand at baking using ancient grain flour and sourdough yeast. Ancient grain flour and sourdough yeast have low glycaemic indexes and are more suitable for digestion. The bread is more compact than the white bread that we are used to eating, it keeps longer and is much healthier.
Each different grain has its own particular smell and taste, and knowledge of them will allow the participants to understand the different types of bread and possible combinations with other foods. Whilst waiting for the bread to be ready for the oven, the participants will consume a frugal meal together. At the end of the experience each participant will be able to take their bread home with them, ready to eat after the 24 hours of rest that this type of bread requires.
For details, cost and reservation:
- Tuesday 28 January (19:00 – 23:00)
Good on the inside
Cooking offal
With chef Leanoardo Salucci, participants will learn the secrets of cooking off-cuts: tricks from the kitchen of yesteryear, filled with the smells and memories of nanna’s cooking. The participants will cook up a complete menu, from starter to dessert, making use of the famous ‘fifth quarter’. At the end of the session the participants will enjoy the meal together, washed down with a nice glass of red.
For details, cost and reservation:
- Tuesday 4 February (19:30 – 22:30)
The cutting edge of the knife
Preparing and hanging and meat
Alongside chef Mauro Urso, the participants will learn all about how to hang and prepare meat, not just according to Tuscan tradition, but also experimenting with techniques from different culinary origins. The participants will cook dishes based on red and white meat, as well as game: the fruit of their labours making a complete menu which will be served at the end of the course, accompanied by a glass of wine.
For details, cost and reservation:
- Tuesday 11 February (19:30 – 22:30)
Giri che ti nigiri
Traditional Japanese dishes
A Japanese cookery course which gives an innovative twist to some of the most celebrated dishes from the land of the rising sun; sushi, sashimi and ramen. The participants, alongside chef Claudio Buglioni from Bulli & Balene, will create a complete menu that reinterprets Japanese tradition with added elements from Italian cuisine.
For details, cost and reservation:
- Tuesday 18 February (19:30 – 22:30)
ricette craccate
Achievable stellar restaurants tricks
With chef Mauro Urso, the participants will learn some of the tricks used by stellar restaurants: from molecular cuisine to the use of temperature to obtain particular flavours and colours. The participants will cook and consume a complete menu of the highest quality, all with relative ease.
For details, cost and reservation:
- Tuesday 25 February (19:30 – 22:30)
4+4= Kitchen Garden
Free workshops for children on the four natural elements and the plants of the kitchen garden
Exploring the connection between the 4 natural elements and the life of plants in order to give children a direct experience of nature, to understand it and respect it. Working in little groups, they will discover interesting aspects that often go unnoticed, and how giving them a little more attention can reveal the wonders of the universe.
The workshops are free on reservation, for all details:
- Tuesday 14 Janaury, 17:30 – 19:30
- Tuesday 11 February, 17:30 – 19:30
walking dead furniture
Restoration workshop
From a lifeless shell to a new life, Walking Dead Furniture is a workshop for the recovery, restoration and finishing of furniture selected by mono. The participants will work alongside the artisan throughout all of the different steps, learning the basics of paint stripping, gluing, painting, coating, and how to make substitutes for missing parts. There’s no need to buy new furniture in large Swedish warehouses when we can make something beautiful out of your grandmother’s old cupboard!
Workshop care of Sasha Rivera of mono.
For details, cost and reservation:
- Saturday 18 January (10:00 – 17:00)
tiritappezzo
Upholstery workshop
Two days of workshops from mòno and Canificio to learn the basics of upholstery, bringing new life to old chairs, either brought from home or selected by the Makers. The participants will assist expert upholsterer Silvio Sammarco throughout the various phases: from removing the old fabric, choosing the new, and then stitching up the seams.
For details, cost and reservation:
- Saturday 1 and Sunday 2 February (10:00 – 17:00)
Instant furniture
Self-production workshop
The workshop from mòno and Canificio starts with a theoretical introduction, placing self-production within the context of the history of design. There will be an overview of the projects, great designers and the schools who have been involved in developing this “open” and “sustainable” path, far from the world of the mass-produced: from Enzo Mari to Gerrit Rietveld, from Carlo Scarpa to Ira Saltz. It will then move onto the practical session and the creation of a home furnishing accessory in wood, from the design to the finishing touches, which the participants can then take home with them.
For details, cost and reservation:
- Saturday 15 February (10:00 – 17:00)
Choice bow-ties
Tailoring workshop
Recounting the history of this iconic menswear accessory, the bow-tie, the workshop from Raffaele Stella Brienza introduces the participants to the different phases involved in constructing a brand and to the world of tailoring. From little details to the finished outfit, the workshop shines a light on the professional processes involved in creating the highest quality clothes and accessories.
For details, cost and reservation:
- Thursday 23 January (15:00 – 19:00)
- Thursday 20 February (15:00 – 19:00)
The Aesthetic of the void
Workshop on cement with Duccio Maria Gambi
Explore the many sculptural possibilities that cement holds, with artist and designer Duccio Maria Gambi, who has for years been producing items with simple lines and materials with an significant weight to them. The workshop aims to introduce participants on how to create a mould for concrete. During the laboratory, work will be done on two different cubic volumes “by subtraction”: pieces will be added to the original mould to subtract parts from the vacuum.
For details, cost and reservation:
- Saturday 1 February (9:00 – 18:00)
Secular Mosaics
Course in mosaics with KOKO Mosaico
for adults and for families
An introduction to the techniques of laying pictorial mosaics for an experience of being a real mosaicist. During the course, participants will create a work of mosaics that they can then take home with them. The mosaics can be made as a copy of an antique mosaic from the roman or byzantine periods, created using cement mortar.
For details, cost and reservation:
- Saturday 8 February (14:00 – 18:00)
- Saturday 29 February (14:00 – 18:00)
Workshops for families:
- Sunday 9 February (9:30 – 13:30)
- Sunday 1 March (9:30 – 13:30)
Blue Magic
The art of blueprints
Leo Pellegatta’s workshop on the art of blueprints aims at highlighting the beauty that can be found in artistic practice. Blueprints help us to discover the poetry in the form that things take: even the simplest designs of everyday domestic objects can be rendered beautiful through their artistic representation on blue sheets of paper.
For details, cost and reservation:
- Sunday 8 March (10:00 – 13:00)
For families:
- Sunday 15 March (10:00 – 13:00)
superduper printers club
Silk-screen printing workshop
The workshop from SuperDuper Hats looks into the relationship between art, graphics and fashion, with the participants taking part in a live silk-screen printing session. The artist Paolo Proserpio will introduce the participants to screen printing and show them examples of screen printing throughout the world. After the demonstration, the participants will be able to choose designs which will then be made into special patches that can be transferred onto hats, T-shirts or tote bags, which can then be taken home.
For details, cost and reservation:
- Saturday 1 February (14:00 – 18:00)
ThirdHand
Workshop on restyling hats
n opposition to over-production in the fashion industry, the Third-Hand workshop looks to ‘make do and mend’, taking old hats that have been damaged over time and giving them a new lease of life through the guidance of expert artisans. The participants will accompany the restyling and will be invited to recall the history of their own hat and the emotional ties that they have to the accessory. The re-styling will be done for felt and straw hats, as well as flat caps and berets.
For details, cost and reservation:
- Thursday 12 March (16:00 – 20:00)